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🗞️ Two Workers Dead, Nearly $800,000 in Fines: Maine Pulp Mill Cited for Chemical Safety Failures

Federal regulators fined a Baileyville, Maine pulp mill nearly $800,000 after a January gas release killed two young employees and a March chemical fire followed, citing years of recurring safety lapses at the plant.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $794,456 in penalties against Woodland Pulp LLC, operator of a hardwood pulp mill in Baileyville, Maine, following an investigation into two separate incidents at the facility in early 2026.

The more serious incident occurred on January 27, 2026, when employees performing a cold weather shutdown were exposed to high, uncontrolled concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas. Kasie Malcolm, a 20 year old University of Maine junior studying chemical engineering who was completing a co op internship at the mill, died the following day. Allen Hornberger, a 26 year old chemical engineer who had recently joined the company, died several weeks later from injuries sustained in the same release. Ten additional employees were exposed to the gas and treated for symptoms such as eye and throat irritation, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which is conducting a separate, ongoing investigation into the incident.

A second incident followed on March 7, 2026, when a chemical fire broke out after 4,400 gallons of concentrated hydrogen peroxide mixed with wood pulp that had accumulated on the ground at the site.

OSHA issued Woodland Pulp four willful citations, the agency's most serious classification, for failing to equip workers with proper alarms or breathing devices to detect hydrogen sulfide and for allowing wood pulp to build up in storage areas. The company also received eight serious citations covering inadequate training on hydrogen peroxide hazards, missing medical evaluations and fit tests for respirator users, and unlabeled chemical lines.

The CSB's preliminary findings indicate that the two employees who died had not been issued personal hydrogen sulfide monitors and that the building where the release occurred had no fixed gas detectors, alarms, or a system to track personnel inside during the shutdown, according to reporting from the Portland Press Herald. The board has estimated the release caused more than $16 million in property damage.

Woodland Pulp, the largest employer in Washington County with roughly 440 workers, has been inspected by OSHA 13 times since 2017, accumulating 13 serious and one other than serious citation prior to this case. Those inspections included a 2017 episode in which 14 employees were hospitalized after a chemical exposure in the same part of the plant. The company now has 15 business days to comply with the citations, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Key Points

OSHA proposed $794,456 in penalties against Woodland Pulp LLC for violations tied to two 2026 incidents at its Baileyville, Maine mill
A January 27 hydrogen sulfide gas release killed two employees, Kasie Malcolm, 20, and Allen Hornberger, 26, and exposed ten others
A March 7 fire followed after 4,400 gallons of hydrogen peroxide mixed with accumulated wood pulp
The company received four willful citations and eight serious citations for missing alarms, absent respiratory protection, inadequate training, and unlabeled chemical lines
CSB investigators found the plant lacked personal and fixed hydrogen sulfide monitors and had no system to track personnel inside the building during the shutdown
Woodland Pulp has faced 13 OSHA inspections since 2017, including a 2017 incident that hospitalized 14 workers
The company has 15 business days to comply, seek an informal conference, or contest the citations before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission